Dream Team: March 2003

Many a great professional skateboarder make their way in the world without a signature skate shoe. That’s great to see, don’t you think? There’re literally ten-and-a-half tons of talented individuals out there—many kicking the upper rung of skateboarding’s progressive ladder—using and abusing footwear they don’t personally endorse.

This used to be the rule, not the exception, but as far as we’re concerned, that’s fine for now—it’s giving us material to fill up another magazine page. Soon, though, the pros on this issue’s Dream Team will probably have what they currently do not. After that, we’ll easily be able to read their names in the footprint they leave on skateboarding, rather than just enjoying the shape of their marks—those subtle scuffs and scrapes that only true skateboarders understand.

Right or wrong, good or bad, it doesn’t really matter who has what, but future skate archaeologists will certainly see these endorsements as a benchmark for the era. We can only pray that when they record our history, they’ll dig deeper than the footbeds of mass-produced skate shoes, thoroughly examining the actions of these men, rather than the trophy endorsements they accumulated.

It’s the Dream Team of the missing in action. We need the players for a contingent of your favorite skaters, who after showing an almost frightening grasp of skateboarding’s three Ss (style, substance, and strength), seemed to disappear from the face of the earth.